What Would You Do?
by LanieSullivan
Summary: Response to the challenge put out on Facebook to write a story describing what a character did for a Klondike bar.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

AN: This is a response to a challenge put forth by Whitefeather1965 in the SMK fanfiction group on FB.

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Lee pulled the Wagoneer into the driveway and was surprised to see Phillip raking the leaves. He got out of the car with a shake of his head and called to the teenage boy, gesturing for him to come over.

"What's up, Lee?" Phillip inquired.

Lee gestured to the rake in his stepson's hand. "You're raking the yard?"

Phillip shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

"So, isn't that Jamie's job?"

Again, the younger of the two shrugged, but this time he couldn't help noticing how Lee watched the shuffling of his feet. "I don't know. I guess so." He let out a nervous chuckle.

Lee leaned against the car nonchalantly as he would when trying to get to the bottom of a mystery on the job without letting a suspect know that they _were_ a suspect. "Soooo...why are you doing your brother's chores?"

Phillip let out a deep sigh. He'd quickly learned about Lee that when he took that relaxed pose, he was anything _but_ relaxed; he was a man on a mission and wouldn't let him get away with not telling the whole truth. "Well, when we got home from school, there was only one Klondike bar left in the freezer and we both wanted it-"

Lee interrupted with, "You know what? Why don't you put that away for now and come help me bring in the groceries from the back of the car, huh?"

 _That's it? No lecture,_ Phillip thought in surprise as he hurried to do as he was told, not wanting to risk getting into trouble if he were going to be allowed a pass on this.

When Phillip returned to the car, Lee handed him two grocery bags and as he did so, continued with his questioning. "So, let me get this straight. You agreed to do your brother's chores for an ice cream bar?"

"Yeah, I guess." Phillip wasn't sure where Lee was going with this.

"So, did he suggest the chores...or did you?" Lee reached for two more grocery bags for himself.

"I offered if he'd let me have it," Phillip answered.

"Why didn't you just flip a coin or something?"

"This your fault, you know," Phillip told him defensively, not wanting to admit that he'd never even thought of something so simple.

Lee turned to him with an incredulous look on his face as he slammed the lift-gate shut. "How is it my fault that you made a silly deal with your brother over ice cream?"

As they walked to the back door and entered the kitchen, Phillip explained, "Before you were here, when we had them in the house there was just four of us and you know...they come six to a pack."

Lee set his bags down on the counter and scratched his head. "I still don't follow you." Was this some weird teenage logic that he just didn't quite understand? He set to work on putting the groceries away, so that Phillip didn't feel as if he were being interrogated.

Phillip worked on his own grocery bags to avoid making eye contact with his stepfather. "Well, after we would have them for dessert once, that would leave two left in the package. Mom and Grandma would always let Jamie and me have the last two, but now that we're a family of five, that only leaves one!"

Lee couldn't help laughing at the conclusion Phillip had come to. "That's it? That's how you think this is my fault? Did it ever occur to you to ask me or your mom if we could just pick up some more?"

Phillip was stone-silent as he finished of the first bag, folded it neatly and put it in a lower cabinet the way his mother had taught him to do. In his annoyance, he slammed the door a bit more forcefully than he'd meant to.

"Hey, there's no need for that," Lee scolded. He frowned, wondering if there were more behind Phillip's "it's your fault" than he was saying.

"Sorry," Phillip replied sheepishly as he began work on the second bag he'd brought in.

"Hey...uh...Phillip?"Lee began hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Phillip just continued working without looking Lee's direction because he was so embarrassed by his own stupidity, which Lee had just pointed out to him.

"Are we okay? You and me, I mean?" He'd always thought they'd gotten on well, but now that he was living with the family full-time, he wasn't so sure. It was one thing to be the boyfriend who goes home every night, but now that he and Amanda had made it official...now, he had to parent, which sometimes meant doing things that neither of them particularly liked. Was Phillip resenting him because his role had changed? Was he still mad that they'd kept their marriage hidden for the first few months? "I mean, I know it was an adjustment for all of us when I moved in here and I know you weren't happy that your mom and I got married without-"

"NO!" Phillip blurted out without thinking and a bit louder than he'd intended to. Was that what Lee thought? That he was mad at him? His voice softening, he finally looked his stepfather in the eye and explained, "No, seriously. I'm over all that and I'm really glad you're here. You make Mom so happy and that makes me happy. Plus, it's really nice having another guy around...you know...a dad-type guy."

Lee beamed. "Good." Suppressing a laugh, he pushed the last bag toward Phillip. "Well, if you look in that bag, you might just find something else that will make you happy."

As he did so, Phillip let out a groan when he saw two brand-new packages of Klondike bars. "I don't believe this."

Lee finally let out the laugh he'd been holding in when he saw the chagrined expression on his stepson's face. "Better put those in the freezer before they melt," Lee suggested, his mirthful expression never fading. "So, I gotta' ask, was it worth it?"

Seeing Lee's jovial face, Phillip couldn't help laughing a little himself. "Not so much now. I feel really stupid."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've done much more stupid things in my lifetime. I was a kid once too." He patted the boy on the shoulder. "I'll make sure to have a talk with your brother about bribing you into doing his chores too."

Phillip was feeling a bit better about the whole thing. As he put the last paper bag away, Phillip said with a laugh, "Can you believe Mom and Grandma make a race out of this, stopwatch and all?"

Lee shook his head. "Yeah, I never did understand that one." He couldn't resist adding just a bit more joking. "So, since you helped me with this, I'd say you've earned a reward. You up for ice cream?"


End file.
